Meaning
Any member of the species Quercus macrolepis, now subspecies Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis or Quercus aegilops of European evergreen oak trees
Etymology
Origin: Unknown
From the Venetan name Valona of the now Albanian city Vlorë around which it grows, unlike in Italy. One of the principal sources of tannin in the English-speaking world in the late 19th century, largely imported from the Ottoman Empire, with Smyrna being the main trading centre for it, whence to Trieste it passed the first time in 1842 to reach the Austro-Hungarian leather industry and become popular in Germany only by the 1880s.
NYT Puzzle Appearances
No published puzzle dates on file for this word yet. It is part of the official NYT Spelling Bee word list for 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026.